Walsh has drafted an agreement with KPMG LLP, a international audit, tax, and advisory firm with offices in Boston that performs a yearly audit of the city’s finances. The BRA board of directors will vote Thursday night on the proposed operational review, which would be undertaken by a different team of auditors than the ones who do the financial review.

While it is unlikely, if the directors vote against the audit it could be halted.

“This is a much more high-level operational look at the way the BRA functions,” she said, “and the goal of the audit is to come up with a set of recommendations to help us ensure that the BRA is functioning in the best way that it can.”

The aim, she said, was to “make sure that we have a planning agency that is best in class.”

Brian Golden, acting director of the BRA, said in a statement that “the agency is embracing this review. I have confidence that it will allow us to work smarter and more efficiently.

“This is a good business practice for our agency, and it should be welcomed by all our staff as we continue to seek ways to improve how we work, and provide services, to residents and businesses.”

KPMG would do the work free for up to 120 hours over eight weeks, according to the agreement letter provided by the mayor’s office.

During his mayoral campaign, Walsh promised to restructure the BRA, widely criticized during the administration of former Mayor Thomas M. Menino for a perceived lack of transparency, preferential treatment for Menino allies, and failure to deliver on the promise of more affordable housing.

In December, the Globe reported that the authority quietly gave a handful of developers discounts on affordable housing fees totaling more than $9 million, while diverting at least $6 million more in housing fees to unrelated purposes.

Samuel Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a watchdog organization funded by businesses and nonprofits, said the scrutiny would bring greater transparency to the authority and provide insight to aid Walsh as he prepares to replace Peter Meade, the former BRA director who retired when Menino left office.

“For a new administration after 20 years, I think this is expected to want to have an outside perspective,” Tyler said. “I think a review from KPMG is a good first step.”